Unity Manual

Build Settings

The Build Settings window allows you to choose your target platform, adjust settings for your build, and start the build process. To access the Build Settings window, select File > Build Settings… . Once you have specified your build settings, you can click Build to create your build, or click the Build And Run to create and run your build on the platform you have specified.

Build Settings window

Scenes in Build

This part of the window shows you the scenes from your project that will be included in your build. If no scenes are shown then you can use the Add Current button to add the current scene to the build, or you can drag scene assets into this window from your project window. You can also untick scenes in this list to exclude them from the build without removing it from the list. If a scene is never needed in the build you can remove it from the list of scenes by pressing the delete key.

Scenes that are ticked and added to the Scenes in Build list will be included in the build. The list of scenes will be used to control the order the scenes are loaded. You can adjust the order of the scenes by dragging them up or down.

Platform List

The Platform area beneath the Scenes in Build area list all the platforms which are available to your Unity version. Some platforms may be greyed out to indicate they are not part of your version or invite you to download the platform specific build options. Selecting one of the platforms will control which platform will be built. If you change the target platform, you need to press the “Switch Platform” button to apply your change. This may take some time making the switch, because your assets may need to be re-imported in formats that match your target platform. The currently selected platform is indicated with a Unity icon to the right of the platform name.

The selected platform will show a list of options that can be adjusted for the build. Each platform may have different options. These options are listed below. Options that are common across many platforms are listed at the very bottom of this section under the “Generic items across builds” details.

PC, Mac & Linux Standalone

Option

Purpose

Target Platform

Windows

Build for Windows

Mac OS X

Build for Mac

Linux

Build for Linux

Architecture

x86

x86

32-bit CPU

x86_64

64-bit CPU

Universal

All CPU devices

x86 + x86_64 (Universal)

All CPU devices for Linux

Server Build

Build the Player for server use and with no visual elements (headless) without the need for any command line options. When enabled, Unity builds managed scriptsA piece of code that allows you to create your own Components, trigger game events, modify Component properties over time and respond to user input in any way you like. More infoSee in Glossary with the UNITY_SERVER define, which enables you to write server-specific code for your applications. You can also build to the Windows version as a console app so that stdin and stdout are accessible (Unity logs go to stdout by default).

Copy PDB files

(Windows only) Include Microsoft program database (PDB) files in the built Standalone Player. PDB files contain application debugging information that is useful for debugging, but may increase the size of your Player. This setting is disabled by default.

Headless Mode

Build game for server use and with no visual elements

iOS

Option

Purpose

Run in Xcode

Select the version of Xcode to use in the build. When set to Latest version,the build uses the most recent version of Xcode on your machine.

Run in Xcode as

Release

Shipping version

Debug

Testing version

Symlink Unity libraries

Reference to the Unity libraries instead of copying them into the XCode project. (Reduces the XCode project size.)

Android

WebGL

Build Settings for WebGLA JavaScript API that renders 2D and 3D graphics in a web browser. The Unity WebGL build option allows Unity to publish content as JavaScript programs which use HTML5 technologies and the WebGL rendering API to run Unity content in a web browser. More infoSee in Glossary use the generic settings shown later on this page.

Samsung TV

Build Settings for Samsung TV use the generic settings shown later on this page.

Xiaomi

Other platforms

Console platforms and devices which require a Unity license will be documented in the Platform Specific section of the User Guide.

Generic items across builds

Option

Purpose

Development BuildA development build includes debug symbols and enables the Profiler. More infoSee in Glossary

Allow the developer to test and work out how the build is coming along.

Autoconnect Profiler

When the Development Build option is selected allow the profilerA window that helps you to optimize your game. It shows how much time is spent in the various areas of your game. For example, it can report the percentage of time spent rendering, animating or in your game logic. More infoSee in Glossary to connect to the build.

Script Debugging

When the Development Build option is selected allow the script code to be debugged. Not available on WebGL.

Scripts Only Build

Build just the scripts in the current Project.

CompressionA method of storing data that reduces the amount of storage space it requires. See Texture Compression3D Graphics hardware requires Textures to be compressed in specialised formats which are optimised for fast Texture sampling. More infoSee in Glossary, Animation CompressionThe method of compressing animation data to significantly reduce file sizes without causing a noticable reduction in motion quality. Animation compression is a trade off between saving on memory and image quality. More infoSee in Glossary, Audio Compression, Build Compression. See in Glossary Method

Compress the data in your Project when building the Player. This includes AssetsAny media or data that can be used in your game or Project. An asset may come from a file created outside of Unity, such as a 3D model, an audio file or an image. You can also create some asset types in Unity, such as an Animator Controller, an Audio Mixer or a Render Texture. More infoSee in Glossary, ScenesA Scene contains the environments and menus of your game. Think of each unique Scene file as a unique level. In each Scene, you place your environments, obstacles, and decorations, essentially designing and building your game in pieces. More infoSee in Glossary, Player settings and GI data. Choose between the following methods:

Default

On PC, Mac, Linux Standalone, and iOSApple’s mobile operating system. More infoSee in Glossary, there is no compression by default. On Android, the default compression is ZIP, which gives slightly better compression results than LZ4HC, but data is slower to decompress.